From farm-to-fork, everyone wants mo-more of Ubud’s new Moksa

COCONUTS HOT SPOT — Permaculture should be a permanent culture. Everywhere. At least it’s becoming a thing in Ubud now. Hopefully the trend kicks off following Moksa, a new plant-based restaurant with its own permaculture garden, which went from nada to being a lot-a (as in now ranked number one on TripAdvisor in Ubud).

If we were forced to choose one restaurant to eat at forever, this would be our pick. From impeccable customer service to the breathtaking farmland, everything about Moksa is mouth-watering worthy.

When you can see the soil that grew the food on your plate you’re tasting more than the chef’s creation. During lunch, you can see the farmers collect eggplant as you scuff down Eggplant Rendang (Rp 55k). At night while pumpkins fall, the customers next to you fall in love with Masala Pumpkin Uttapam (Rp 65k) before they fall in love with each other (awkward, but that’s what foodgasms do to you!).

The menu, raw, vegan, and gluten-free friendly, is filled with naturally creative dishes. Our personal favorites are the Jacky Mignon (Rp 65k), a jackfruit fillet (that actually tastes like meat) with a colorful assortment of purple sweet potato fries and cabbage, and another sweet potato dish called the Purple Scaloppini (Rp 60k). The depth of flavors from purple sweet potato cutlets to grilled eggplant, tomatoes, and a richly thick balsamic is finger-licking good.

This dish of yum is called “Purple Scaloppini”. Photo: Baliving

Most people dining at Moksa eat their plate clean, almost better than a dishwasher. But for those who get full easily, Moksa puts their leftover food waste to use in a compost system. One person’s trash becomes another’s treasure. They’re also huge fans of dead barks and branches, rice leaves, and ginormous collections of elephant dung as these feed the soil. This is what sustainability looks like.

May look like trash, but this compost is a pot of gold. Photo: Baliving

Some people may call it farm-to-table, but Moksa actually takes it a step further, completing the cycle – farm-to-fork-to-farm. Mother nature gave us this world and Moksa is giving us the tastiest version.